There was a full Moon out at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Monday evening, and it shone very brightly.
Bill “Moon” Mullin, a veteran horseman who these days focuses more on the training end of the business, is a familiar sight to Pocono fans in the local winner’s circle, sometimes even a couple of times during a card. But on Monday Mullin drove two horses back to Victory Lane for the first time in four days short of 15 years, first lighting up the board with Casino Cutie It, a $51.40 nose winner in the ninth, and then following up two races later with Barnaby Rudge, both of them being trotters, Mullin’s specialty.
It was the first time since October 21, 2001, that Mullin had a driving double on one card, which also came at Pocono, courtesy of trotter Chilled Sakra and pacer Flyhy Illini.
This is not to say that Mullin does not know his way around the track in a race – indeed, he now has 1080 driving wins, and was a three-time UDR champ at Pocono, in 1989, 1993, and 1995. In 1996 he won 120 races in the sulky, but in 1998 he decided to focus his efforts on the training side, and since then he has added dash titles as a trainer in 1999 and 2002 to his 1988 triumph in that Pocono category.
Casino Cutie It was not the only bomber on the Monday Pocono card, and not even the only trotting bomber, as Miss Wapwallopen lit up the board with a $67.00 victory in the first race.
Mike Simons, who also is known for his driving prowess with trotters (he too had a trotting double in the sulky Monday), guided Miss Wapwallopen to the upset. (Wapwallopen, by the way, is a town 23 miles southwest of The Downs, and the hometown of Gene Daisey, Sr. and Jr., the owners/trainers/breeders of Miss Wapwallopen.)
(PHHA/Pocono)